MOSCOW, May 17 /TASS/. Russia resolutely condemns a series of terror attacks, which took place in the Iraqi capital Baghdad earlier on Tuesday and which caused numerous human casualties, the Russian Foreign Ministry said.
"According to reports coming in, a series of explosions roared in the bustling areas of the Iraqi capital, which is predominantly populated with Shia Muslims. A series of four terror attacks claimed the lives of more than 70 people; more than a hundred were injured. There are many women and children among the victims," the Russian Foreign Ministry said.
A suicide bombing in Shaab neighborhood was the bloodiest. Two explosions, including the use of a bomb-stuffed car, shook the Baghdad outskirt of Sadr City. This district of Baghdad is a frequent target for the Islamic State terrorist group. The recent series of bloody crimes in the Iraqi capital is its doing judging from the modus operandi.
"The fact that these barbaric acts were directed at members of a certain religious confession is a subject of special concern. The confessional nature [of those crimes] is destroying the already fragile ethnic and religious composition of the Iraqi society, which is going through hard times," the Russian Foreign Ministry went on to say.
"Under these circumstances, we are urging all the Iraqis, irrespective of their political convictions as well as confessional and ethnic affiliation, to demonstrate maxim restraint and self-possession in order not to ignite the spiral of violence and reciprocal animosity," the ministry said.
"Moscow resolutely condemns the atrocities, which extremists are committing in Iraq. We express our condolences to the relatives and families of the dead. At the same time, we wish the earliest recovery to the injured. At the same time, we would like to re-emphasize the imperative need to consolidate broad international efforts to counteract terrorist threats coming from the Islamic State, Al-Qaeda and the like.